The arson on KAD-SIECOM is the handiwork of persons determined to frustrate yet again, the conduct of council polls that have suffered several postponements.
A former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Kaduna State, Mark Jacob, has urged the Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to investigate the burning down of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECOM).
Mr. Jacob made the call on Friday while speaking with The NEXT EDITION correspondent on the political situation in the state.
While expressing shock at the fire outbreak which razed down the headquarters of the state electoral body, the former commissioner cautioned against attempts to frustrate the conduct of local government council election in the state.
“The people of Kaduna State, on Saturday, April 21, 2018, stood in shock as they witnessed the burning down of the headquarters of the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM).
Read also: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Governor El-Rufai is Destroying Kaduna State – PDP Chieftain Mark Jacobs
“Vital data relevant to the forthcoming local council election slated to hold on May 12, 2018, were incinerated.
“The inferno that razed down the data unit and chairman’s office of KAD-SIECOM is seen by many as the work of persons determined to frustrate yet again, the conduct of council polls that have suffered several postponements.
“From several sources on the fire outbreak, not a few are insisting that there is need to set up a panel to look into the circumstances that led to the fire outbreak.
“Even before now, many have become increasingly wary of the willingness of the Kaduna State Government to conduct the council poll,” Mr. Jacob said.
The former commissioner called on Mr. El-Rufai to urgently appoint men and women of trusted credentials to unearth the remote cause(s) of the arson on the state’s electoral office.
He suggested that members of the panel should be drawn from political parties, traditional institution, security agencies and civil society organisations (CSOs), among others.
With such a body in place to investigate the arson, Mr. Jacob reasoned that the rumour that the state government instigated the crime would be dispelled.
“It is widely alleged that agents sympathetic to the Kaduna State Government may be pulling strings in order to frustrate the conduct of the poll.
“It must be stated clearly that against the backdrop of loss of vital documents, the resort to manual electoral process even if suggested cannot be done since there is an existing law which was passed by the Kaduna State House of Assembly regarding electronic voting,” Mr. Jacob said.
The former commissioner also drew attention to Mr. El-Rufai’s recent suspension of the state’s electoral commissioner, Steven Nkom.
According to him, Mr. Nkom was suspended for allegedly opposing the forceful annexation of land in his council area for some private investors.
“The suspension has been seen as a move to decimate the number of commissioners in the commission from Southern Kaduna before the elections. There is definitely more than meets the eyes,” Mr. Jacob continued.
“It is obvious that a large number of electorates in Kaduna have prepared to use the local government poll to make a political statement to those in command of affairs in the state.”
